METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
The Use of Slides in Psychology Classes: Do They Help or
Are They an Invitation to Sleep?
Barney Beins
Thomas More College
Many psychology majors vlev^/ a class like Sensation and
Perception as dull and useless, merely another required
course. In order to dispel this notion, I v^anted to v^^ork into
the course some material that was "relevant" to students but
which would aiso illustrate the important points of sensory
functioning. It is clear that in general, the use of slides, films
and transparencies has been effective in the classroom. In
fact, Kulik, Kulik and Cohen (1980), in a reviev^^ of over 300
studies, have demonstrated that instructional technology
generates positive effects in the classroom. With respect to
visual learning/teaching aids, f\/lcKeachie (1969) has noted
their effectiveness in aiding poorer students, generating
participation and enhancing learning, and helping in the
acquisition of details as well as general concepts (p, 110).
Recognition of the advantages of slides, transparencies and
films is apparent in the proliferation of such ancillary material
that accompanies textbooks, particularly introductory psy-
chology texts.
Considering the benefits of visual learning-teaching aids,
I wanted to see if I could put toegether a substantive set of
slides that would not only help the students learn, but aisc
improve their interest in my Sensory & Perceptual Processes
course. In spite of the availability of these aids for lower level
courses, and some higher level applications for teaching the
History of Psychology ("News Tips from ToP," 1981) and for
teaching the use of Psychological Abstracts ("News Tips
from ToP," 1980), I found nothing for this particular upper
level class. Consequently, in conjunction with a small grant
that I had received, I developed a series of slides that I used
throughout the term to help enhance students' appreciation
of the material. The textbook for the course was introduction
to Sensory Processes (Ludel, 1978); I photographed a large
number of illustrations from that book.^ In addition, I used
figures from various other sources (e.g,, Cornsweet, 1970;
Gregory, 1973: Ruch, Patton, Woodbury & Towe, 1965),^ I
also developed some illustrations of my own.
Use Of The Slides, The result was a package of 180
black/white and color slides that I transported to class on a
daily basis. In any given class, I might have made reference
to as many as a dozen or so slides, or to as few as three or
four. The majority of the slides involved visual structures and
processes (52 slides), color vision (18 slides) and cognitive
processes (53 slides). Audition accounted for 30 slides, and
the "minor senses" and neurons and the brain completed
the set.
Results and Evaluation. The students responded very well
to the slides and seemed to have an easier time understand-
Vol. 11 No. 4 December 1984
ing the interrelationships among the different concepts we
covered. Having the slides also meant that I did not have to
spend very much time drawing on the blackboard. In fact,
about the only times I had to resort to the blackboard were
when I needed to present an equation, to define a term more
clearly or to present further examples
One result of my not having to spend an inordinate
amount of time using the blackboard was that we managed
to cover all the material in the textbook. In two previous
offerings cf this particular class, I had used the same book
but had been unable to give other than cursory attention to
the minor senses. Due in large part to the slides, we were
able to cover three more chapters than in any previous term.
My assessment of the success of the slides was based
on the evaluations that the students completed lor the
course, 1 had been rated in this course three times in four
years, in the last two of those years, I used the same book.
Three relevant aspects cf evaluation are student reaction to
the instructor, to the course, and to the textbook, I performed
a separate analysis of variance on the responses to each
item. On the questionnaire, the students assigned ratings on
a scale of one (negative) to five (positive) for the first two
items; for the third item, they responded either "Yes" or
"No,"
Ouestion 1: Overall, how would you rate the instructor?
Table 1 gives the nnean ratings tor the three courses The
difference across years is not significant, F(2,37) = 1,09, p>
,05. The average increase is overshadowed by a greater
range of responses.
Table 1. Mean ratings of students for
Sensation & Perception class across years.
Measure 1979 1980 1982
Overall rating of instructor" 3 22 3.56 3 86
Overall rating of course' 2 ,40 2,67 4.11
Percent of positive ratings of textbook 33 100 100
Number of students 10 10 22
"Based on scale ot 1 (negative) to 5 (positive).
Ouestion 2 Overall, how would you rate this course in
relation to ail your other oourses? Table 1 also shows the
mean ratings on this question. The pattern of responses for
the first two years (i,e,, those without slides) is comparable in
this question to that in the first question. But when the slides
enter into consideration, the effect is dramatic. The differ-
ence between means is highly significant, F(2,35) = 8.65, p<
.01. A Tukey(a) post hoc analysis indicated that the first two
years were not significantly different, but the course that
involved the slides shewed higher ratings,
Ouestion 3; The textbook contributed signifioantty to the
oourse (Yes or No), Student satisfaction with the course
appears not to be systematically related to the text, which
229
the students generally like quite a bit. When there were no
slides used in the second offering of the class, students
were not overly impressed with the relevance or interest of
the class, even when the book remained constant.
Subjective Responses. When the students were asked to
comment on why the slides were helpful, the responses
were fairly consistent. The most frequent response was that
the slides allowed the class to spend as much time as
needed with a given slide. In fact, every student filling out
the open-ended part of the questionnaire commented on the
fact that they were able to comprehend the details of the
lecture because they could see the material I was talking
about while simultaneously listening. The students were also
quite taken with the presentations dealing with color vision,
depth perception and optical illusions. It is not surprising
that they seemed to appreciate visual phenomena through
the slides more than other sensorial phenomena. In fact, the
slides relevant to taste and to the structure and function of
the neuron were seen as generally less useful than the slides
relevant to visual processing. The implications for this,
naturally, is either to include more colorful, "artistic" slides
concerning the neuron, audition, olfaction and gustation or
to include various "taste tests" and other experiential forms
of learning into the class, (I am currently trying to arrange a
tour of a local company that manufactures flavorings for
foods.)
The students were also appreciative of the break from
what they thought was the relative boredom produced by a
lecture format. Several students felt that the slides punctuat-
ed the pace of the class in such a way as to keep their
attention focused more closely on the material being
presented. The only slightly negative aspect associated with
the use ot the slides, according to the students, was that
they sometimes found it hard to take notes in the darkness.
This did not seem to be an overriding concern for most of
them, however, because light reflected from the slides
provided adequate illumination for their notes. Finally, when
the students were asked about continued use of the slides in
the class, there was unanimity concerning the benefit of
keeping them in the course. One student even suggested
making the slides available for student use outside of class
time. This possibility has been raised by McKeachie (1969)
for poorer students who may benefit from repeated expo-
sure to the material.
Conclusions. It appears that slides offered considerable
benefit to the course. One interesting aspect here is that the
students seemed to value the course more when the slides
were added, whereas my status as instructor remained
unchanged. At least in this one case, students were able to
230
differentiate the course's value from that of the instructor. In
one respect, though there was an interaction between the
ratings of the course and of the instructor; specifically, in the
open ended questions, students felt that the pace of the
class was more comfortable when the slides were included
as compared to when there were no slides. This subjective
effect occurred in spife of the fact that we managed to cover
three additional chapters dunng the course. Having the
slides allows smoother presentation of the material, speeds
the pace of the class without confusing the students, and
provides them with a more positive experience in dealing
with one of the typically more difficult psychology courses
that they are required to take.
The effectiveness of the course and, presumably, the
slides seems validated by the fact that more than a quarter
of the students in each succeeding class have been non-
psychology majors, compared with previous classes with
almost exclusive enrollment by psychology majors. Addition-
al evidence for the students' appreciation of the class is
shown in the following statement on one of the anonymous
questionnaires; "This course is my favorite this semester,
mainly because I was finally learning about things I've
always wondered about. My cunosity was really aroused
and this caused my interest to grow."
References
Cornsweet, T, Visual perception. New York: Academic Press,
1970,
Gregory, R, L, Eye and brain: The psychology of seeing. New
York: World University Library, 1973.
Kulik, C, 0,, Kulik, J. A,, & Cohen, P, A. Instructional technology
and college teaching. Teaching ol Psychology. 1980, 7.199-205,
Ludel, J, Introduction to sensory processes. San Francisco: W, H,
Freeman, 1978
McKeachie, W. J. Teaching tips: A guidebook for the beginning
college teacher. Lexington, MA: D, C, Heath, 1969.
Nev^/s Tips from ToP. Teaching of Psychology. 1980, 7, 258,
Nev^s Tips from ToP. Teaching of Psychology. 1981,8, 182,
Ruoh, T, C, Patton, H, D,, Woodbury, J W, & Tovi/e, A, L Neuro-
physiology. Philadelphia, Saunders, 1965,
Notes
1, The slides used in the course described above were generated
in part with funds provided to the author through the Strengthen-
ing Institutions Development Grant of the United States Depart-
ment of Education,
2, I would like to thank Dr, J, William Porter for his assistance in the
technical aspects of copystand photography.
3, To date, the publishers of the books that I made use of for the
slides have been cooperative in giving me copyright permission
to use them for more than the single term that the new copyright
laws permit,
4 Requests for reprints should be sent to Barney Beins. Depart-
ment of Psychology, Thomas f^ore College, Crestview Hills, KY
41017,
Teaching of Psychology